Arizona silver belt. [volume] (Globe City, Pinal County, Ariz.) 1878-19??, 1887-07-30
ana rnE RryiarD sr4rrrEs LEGAl

enacted by them, and one OF the most
important Of these certain and fixed
regulations u.s. that d journal shall be
kept in which is recorded the circum-
stances wuon give the necessary ya-'
lldity 10 laws passed in the particular
House which acts upon those laws.
The l4th Legislature is supposed to
have considered many bills presented
to the two branches thereof and, by ITS
direction, revision Of the existing
laws was made, and recently a code
comprising such revised and much
new law, has been sent to & limited
humber Of the officers of this county
by the Territorial Secretary.
The BELT has repeatedly stated
and proved that no Journals, which
fll the requirements before expressed
were kept by the last Legislature and
from this fact arises at once the ques-
tion as to whether or not the new
code can be Of any legal value. There
exists ne lawful record Of the daily
proceedings OF that body, and many
laws not found in this code have been
stated.to have been passed by mem
bers of the House and Council who
were intimately connected with the
laws they mention
An examination Of the history OF
the code cannot but impress anyone
with the knowledge that grave errors
were committed. Three men were
intrustsd with the REVISION Of the
great amount of work that has been
gradually constructed since the Ter,
ritory was organized They hurriedly
wrote out q new laws rushed 1t into
the House; the Clerk takes 1t up and
commences to read IT. finding that
its reading would occupy parhapS the
entire day, some member proposes
that it be considered read and the bill
is quickly passed to second reading,
and without knowing perhaps even
the title, the House sends it to the Ju-
diclary Committee who sends it back
in two, three or four days, saying ut
is good bill, and the bill is up on
final passage. No record is taken,
save in pencil Of the vote on roll call (;
the bill Is declared passed and sent to
the Council where it is rushed along
on the same plan, and finally the bin
goes to the governor who approves it,
and it is then declared a law, possibly,
'taking effect Immediately" No one
has seen it in print, and a major
ity Of the members themselves could
not state its contents
A great mass of bills accumulated; /;
the legislature adjourned and left tho
three Commissioners to prepare these
bills for publication. It's fact that
the only history o. the daily transac-
tiol.s of either branch Of the 14th,
was the respective Clerks pencil MN
utes, and no Journals we're read
signed and approved each day IN
either House as should have been done
These pentit minutes have been in
the charge of one or two men besides
the Commissioners, and upon these
memoranda CT tie Clerks rests the
entire legality Of the new c 20 d e.
What a fragile foundation for our
Statutes to rest Rpen? And yet the
administration would have all believe
that nothing is lacking to give validity
to these laws. The recognized rules
in regard to Journals were not fol
lowed and 1t bears the impress Of
error and will always carry a suspi-
cion that crookedness exists. A great
latitude was given for corruption to
Aourish, thereby inviting attack and
criticism.
1t is well that Congress should con-
slider and approve the Statutes before
they become absolute, and it Is the
duty Of our Delegate to present this
matter in its proper light for examlna-
tion by the next House Of Represent.
atiyes and to urge that body 10 de-
eide the question as to the legality Of
the actions Of the Legislature, Code
Commission and Territorial Secretary.
Under the condition Of the laws
as given into the custody Of the Com
missioners, there is pertinent fea-
ture in regard to these Revised Stat.
utes which affords opportunities for
changing the contezt Of many
Of these laws. In many cases
the bills passed a third read
ing in the same condition as they
were when presented to the House on
Council, with the addition Of pencil
interhneahoRs embodying amend,
mentS offered and passed Tho Com.
rnissioners and Secretary had exclu,
si7e charge Of these bills for twenty
days after She adjournment Of The
Legislature, in which to index and
compile this code, and these facts
show conclusiyeIy that this manner o.
winding mp legislation was unwlsc